Dementia Japan 32:12-16, 2018
The ‘NanoSuit®’ allows living/wet organisms to survive in the harsh environment of electron microscopy
Takahiko Hariyama1), Yasuharu Takaku1), Koji Suzuki1), Satoshi Hirakawa1),
Yuji Hirai2), Masatsugu Shimomura2), Hideya Kawasaki1)
1)Hamamatsu University School of Medicine
2)Chitose Institute of Science and Technology
Electron microscopy has become an essential tool for observing biological materials. Since the specimen chamber of scanning electron microscope is at high vacuum (10-3-10-6 Pa), the organisms are required chemical fixation with various complex procedures to preserve their structure. We show in this review a new method to observe living organisms by an electron microscope. Using by protecting them with a coating of thin polymer membrane, the NanoSuit®, we found that the surface fine structure of living organisms is very different from that of traditionally treated samples. We can now observe not only living organisms, but living/wet tissues, cells, and biological particles.
Address correspondence to Dr. Takahiko Hariyama, Department of Biology, Hamamatsu University School of Medicine (1-20-1 Handayama, Higashi-ku, Hamamatsu, Shizuoka 431-3192, Japan)